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The relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Previous CaringExperience and Mindfulness in student nurses and midwives: Across sectional analysis

Citation for published version:Stenhouse, R, Snowden, A, Young , J, Carver, F, Carver, H & Brown, N 2014, 'The relationship betweenEmotional Intelligence, Previous Caring Experience and Mindfulness in student nurses and midwives: Across sectional analysis' Nurse Education Today., 10.1016/j.nedt.2014.09.004

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The relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Previous Caring Experienceand Mindfulness in student nurses and midwives: A cross sectional analysis

Austyn Snowden, Rosie Stenhouse, Jenny Young, Hannah Carver, FionaCarver, Norrie Brown

PII: S0260-6917(14)00302-5DOI: doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2014.09.004Reference: YNEDT 2790

To appear in: Nurse Education Today

Accepted date: 9 September 2014

Please cite this article as: Snowden, Austyn, Stenhouse, Rosie, Young, Jenny, Carver,Hannah, Carver, Fiona, Brown, Norrie, The relationship between Emotional Intelligence,Previous Caring Experience and Mindfulness in student nurses and midwives: A crosssectional analysis, Nurse Education Today (2014), doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2014.09.004

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The relationship between Emotional Intelligence, Previous Caring

Experience and Mindfulness in student nurses and midwives: a cross

sectional analysis.

Austyn Snowden PhD RMN (corresponding author)

Austyn.snowden@uws.ac.uk

Professor in Mental Health, University of the West of Scotland, Ayr campus,

KA8 0SX

Mobile No:

Rosie Stenhouse PhD RMN

Rosie.stenhouse@ed.ac.uk

Lecturer Nursing Studies, The University of Edinburgh

Jenny Young MSc

Jenny.young@uws.ac.uk

Research Assistant, University of the West of Scotland

Hannah Carver MSc

40135724@live.napier.ac.uk

Research Assistant, Napier University

Fiona Carver MSc RMN

F.carver@napier.ac.uk

Lecturer, Napier University

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Norrie Brown PhD RMN

N.brown@napier.ac.uk

Senior Lecturer, Napier University

Acknowledgements

Funding: NHS Education Scotland/Scottish Government Health Directorate

Delivery Group. Supporting the development of the evidence base for

Recruitment, Selection and Retention of nursing and midwifery students in

Scotland. Funding £24,411

Word count 4737

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ABSTRACT

Background.

Emotional Intelligence (EI), previous caring experience and mindfulness

training may have a positive impact on nurse education. More evidence is

needed to support the use of these variables in nurse recruitment and

retention.

Objective.

To explore the relationship between EI, gender, age, programme of study,

previous caring experience and mindfulness training.

Design.

Cross sectional element of longitudinal study.

Setting & Participants.

938 year one nursing, midwifery and computing students at two Scottish HEIs

who entered their programme in September 2013.

Data.

Participants completed a measure of ‘trait’ EI: Trait Emotional Intelligence

Questionnaire Short Form (TEIQue-SF); and ‘ability’ EI: Schutte’s (1998)

Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS). Demographics, previous caring

experience and previous training in mindfulness were recorded.

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Methods

Relationships between variables were tested using non-parametric tests.

Results

Emotional intelligence increased with age on both measures of EI [TEIQ-SF

H(5)=15.157 p=0.001; SEIS H(5)=11.388, p=0.044]. Females (n=786) scored

higher than males (n=149) on both measures [TEIQ-SF, U = 44,931, z = -

4.509, p < .001; SEIS, U = 44,744, z = -5.563, p < .001]. Nursing students

scored higher that computing students [TEIQ-SF H(5) = 46,496, p < .001;

SEIS H(5)=33.309, p<0.001. There were no statistically significant differences

in TEIQ-SF scores between those who had previous mindfulness training

(n=50) and those who had not (n=857) [U = 22,980, z = 0.864, p =0.388].

However, median SEIS was statistically significantly different according to

mindfulness training [U = 25,115.5, z = 2.05, p = .039]. Neither measure

demonstrated statistically significantly differences between those with (n=492)

and without (n=479) previous caring experience, [TEIQ-SF, U = 112, 102, z =

0.938, p = .348; SEIS, U=115,194.5, z=1.863, p=0.063].

Conclusions.

Previous caring experience was not associated with higher emotional

intelligence. Mindfulness training was associated with higher ‘ability’ emotional

intelligence. Implications for recruitment, retention and further research are

explored.

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BACKGROUND

The Francis Report (2013) detailed multiple recommendations to improve the

quality of nursing in the UK. The Government and Nursing and Midwifery

Council subsequently expressed the desire to select student nurses for caring

values and attributes. In order to operationalize this Higher Education

Institutions (HEIs) need evidence on which to base decisions about which

attributes and values must be present in students. This paper explores three

potentially useful factors: emotional intelligence, mindfulness and previous

caring experience. It presents baseline results from the first phase of a

longitudinal study designed to ascertain the relationship between these

variables with clinical and academic performance in nurses (Snowden et al.,

2014). The key variables are first described and then the study method is

detailed. Results from this first phase of data collection are then presented.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) is contested but well conceptualised in the

psychology literature (Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso 2004; Petrides, Furnham,

and Frederickson 2004; Schutte et al. 2001) and might be related to quality of

nursing care (Bulmer Smith et al., 2009). It is suggested that EI is a useful

variable to understand in relation to nurse recruitment (Taylor et al., 2014).

Most EI theorists see emotional intelligence either as an ability, a trait, or

some combination of the two (Austin et al., 2004), and then attempt to

measure it in accordance with that view (Qualter et al, 2010). For example

Schutte et al.'s (1998) self reported Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS) is an

‘ability’ measure. It is theoretically grounded in Salovey and Mayer (1990)

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concept of emotional intelligence that sees it as a subset of social intelligence

concerning the capacity to:

1. Monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions,

2. Discriminate among them, and

3. Use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.

(Salovey & Mayer, 1990, p189)

This conception of emotional intelligence therefore described it as a cognitive

process of active social judgement; a useful ability to measure in prospective

and practicing nurses. By contrast the most widely utilized trait measure is the

Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQ) developed by Petrides &

Furnham (2000), in part from a critique of Schutte’s conception. Rather than

seeing EI as a function of cognitive processes inherent in ‘ability’ measures

Petrides (2011) conceptualises EI as an aspect of personality. The distinction

is psychometrically important as the two require different measurement

techniques and Petrides goes on to point out that these measures do not

correlate with each other. Despite this there are consistent findings that

emotional intelligence, however conceptualized and measured, increases with

age and is higher in females than males (Fernández-Berrocal et al., 2012;

Petrides, 2011; Schutte et al., 2009).

There are ongoing debates between the proponents of different EI theories

arguing for the superiority of one conception over another (Cherniss, 2010;

Gignac, 2010; Roberts et al., 2010). The position we took was that it is likely

that different interpretations of emotional intelligence are useful. This is why in

our study we chose to utilize both Schutte’s et al’s (1998) measure (SEIS) and

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the short form TEIQ-SF (Cooper and Petrides 2010). The results from these

measures can then be interpreted against their unique theoretical

underpinnings (Petrides 2011).

Previous Caring Experience

It seems intuitive to think that those with previous caring experience may

make better nurses (Finfgeld-Connett, 2008). Even acknowledging that caring

is not a straightforward construct (Paley, 2002) previous practical experience

should at least ensure students are more likely to go into their training with

realistic expectations. This is why the UK government has supported Health

Education England to pay 200 prospective nurses to work as healthcare

assistants before starting their nurse training (Health Education England,

2014).

However, there is no evidence to support this assertion, and Scotland has not

taken this step. The assumption that previous caring experience would

somehow offset the issues raised in the Francis enquiry instead needs to be

tested, and there may be other more cost effective and empirically based

methods of doing so. To this end this study collected data on previous caring

experience so as to examine the relationship between those nurses with and

without previous experience and various measures of subsequent

performance. Specifically, participants were asked to self identify whether

they had previous caring experience or not. If so participants were then asked

to specify how much experience they had (in months) and where this

experience had taken place so as to get more nuanced data on the quantity

and type of experience referred to for the purpose of generalizing to other

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countries.

Mindfulness training

Nurse education focuses primarily on the knowledge and skills students need

to attain competence. Emphasis has shifted over the previous decades from

methods of teaching to a more critical understanding about how students

learn (Pashler et al., 2009; Snowden, 2013). This means facilitating learning

that equips students for the real-world demands of professional practice and

employment. As this environment can be emotionally difficult, a key related

area of current scrutiny is the role affective factors play in learning – the

interrelationship between emotion and cognition in learning (Hyland, 2009;

Mikulas, 2011) - and how to address these within curricula.

Mindfulness is based on the precept of developing self-knowledge and

enhancing well-being through becoming aware of the present moment,

specifically how one responds to each situation that arises (Khoury et al.,

2013). In the field of education it has become a progressively influential

concept and focus of research. There is a body of evidence that attests to

mindfulness’ potential for facilitating the kind of broader learning around well-

being and emotional intelligence that are relevant to coping with the realities

of 21st Century professional nursing practice (White, 2014). What is currently

unknown is whether mindfulness training is associated with higher emotional

intelligence and/or better academic and clinical performance. In the first phase

of data collection this study examined the relationship between EI and

mindfulness. Later phases will explore performance.

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AIM

The longitudinal study aims to identify the impact of emotional intelligence,

previous caring experience and mindfulness training on student progression

and graduate retention and achievement. The aim of this cross sectional

study is to understand the relationships between these variables at baseline.

Hypotheses:

1. Emotional intelligence will increase with age

2. Nurses with previous caring experience will show higher emotional

intelligence than those without previous caring experience

3. Mindfulness will be associated with higher emotional intelligence

4. Men will have lower emotional intelligence than women

5. Nurses will have higher emotional intelligence than non-nursing

students.

METHOD

Design.

Cross sectional analysis embedded within longitudinal quasi-experimental

design. The cross section refers to the baseline data collection from the

student cohort. The quasi-experimental design entailed non randomized

hypothesis testing between groups.

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Sample.

Participants were 870 nursing and midwifery students and sixty-eight

computing students attending day one of the first year of their degree

programmes at two Scottish universities in September 2013. All students had

been informed about the study in writing prior to the beginning of their course.

One midwifery student declined to participate.

Data.

All participants completed shortened version of the Trait Emotional

Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue-SF) and Schutte’s (1998) Emotional

Intelligence Scale. Demographic data (gender, age), previous caring and

previous training in mindfulness were also collected. All data were collected

on paper and transcribed to electronic databases for analysis.

Analytic plan.

Data were input into SPSS. Descriptives were constructed for all variables.

Distributions were tested for normality. All hypotheses were subsequently

tested utilising either parametric or non-parametric tests according to the

results of normality tests.

Ethics.

Ethical approval was gained from University of the West of Scotland and

Napier University school ethics committees.

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RESULTS

The sample was predominantly young with over 2/3 under 26 and 786 female

to 149 males (figure 1). Table 1 shows the majority were adult nursing

students.

Table 1. Sample by programme

Figure 1. Sample age and gender

Almost half (n=452) had had some previous caring experience. Of these, 48%

got their experience form nursing home, 33% from hospital and 17% from

home. 50 reported they had mindfulness training. Both measures of emotional

intelligence showed positive kurtosis and negative skew. Figure 2 illustrates

the distribution for the TEIQ measure.

Figure 2. TEIQ total distribution

ANALYSIS

Distributions of all responses to both EI measures were tested for

assumptions of normality using boxplot. Extreme outliers were noted and

confirmed with anomaly detection. However, despite removing these outliers

and rerunning normality tests the assumptions of normality were still violated.

The Z-score for kurtosis in SEIS was 7.5, nearly three times acceptable level

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(Laerd, 2014) (kurtosis = 1.245, standard error = 0.166). The Z-score for

skewness was -4.57 (skewness -0.38, standard error 0.083); nearly double

the acceptable limit. For the TEIQ the same pattern emerged with positive

kurtosis (kurtosis = 0.79, standard error = 0.166) and negative skew

(Skewness = -0.46, standard error = 0.083). EI scores were not normally

distributed as confirmed by Shapiro-Wilk’s test [TEIQ-SF (p<0.001); [SEIS,

p=0.001]. Non-parametric tests were therefore utilized to test the study

hypotheses.

1. Emotional intelligence will increase with age

Figure 3. Emotional Intelligence and Age group

A Kruskal-Wallace test was run to determine if there were differences in EI

scores between the six groups of participants by age (17-20, 21-25, 26-30,

31-35, 36-40, over 40). The distributions of TEIQ-SF scores were statistically

significantly different between groups, H(3) = 14.468, p = .002. The

distributions of the SEIS score were also statistically significantly different

between groups H(5)=11.388, p=0.044. Both measures increased with age.

Figure 3 shows the trend on SEIS, indicating increase in emotional

intelligence with age.

2. Nurses with previous caring experience will show higher emotional

intelligence than those without previous caring experience

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As the sample for this hypothesis excluded computer students the normality

tests were repeated in the nursing only sample (N=869). Again the boxplots

showed outliers and the distributions of both measures of EI appeared non-

normal. EI scores were not normally distributed in either group as confirmed

by Shapiro-Wilk’s test (p<0.001). This hypothesis was therefore also tested

using non-parametric assumptions.

A Mann-Whitney U test was run to determine if there were differences in EI

scores between nurses with previous caring experience and those without.

Distributions of the scores for both groups were similar, as assessed by visual

inspection. Median TEIQ-SF score was not statistically significantly different

between the two groups, U = 112, 102, z = 0.938, p = .348. Median SEIS

scores were also not statistically significantly different, U=115,194.5, z=1.863,

p=0.063. In fact means (SD) were virtually identical on TEIQ-SF [yes = 5.3

(0.63), no=5.33 (0.60)] and SEIS [yes=3.87 (0.42), no=3.86 (0.42)]. Previous

caring experience was not associated with higher emotional intelligence in this

sample.

3. Mindfulness will be associated with higher emotional intelligence

This hypothesis was tested with Mann Whitney U test due to the normality

issues discussed above. Median TEIQ-SF was not statistically significantly

different between those with experience of mindfulness and those without, U

= 22,980, z = 0.864, p =0.388. Median SEIS was statistically significantly

different between those with experience of mindfulness and those without, U

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= 25,115.5, z = 2.05, p = .039. In this sample previous mindfulness training

was not associated with higher trait emotional intelligence but was associated

with higher ability EI.

4. Men will have lower emotional intelligence than women

Although the distribution of responses to both EI measures was normal in

males it was not in females as assessed by Shapiro-Wilk test (p<0.001). A

Mann-Whitney U test was run to determine if there were differences in EI

scores between males and females. Median TEIQ-SF was statistically

significantly different between males and females, U = 44,931, z = -4.509, p <

.001. Median SEIS was statistically significantly different between males and

females, U = 44,744, z = -5.563, p < .001. The null hypotheses were rejected

in both EI measures. Women had significantly higher emotional intelligence

than men in this sample.

5. Nurses will have higher emotional intelligence than non-nursing

students.

A Kruskal-Wallace test was run to determine if there were differences in EI

scores between programme of study. Distributions of TEIQ-SF scores and

SEIS scores were not similar for all groups, as assessed by visual inspection

of boxplots. The distributions of TEIQ-SF scores were statistically significantly

different between groups, H(5) = 46,496, p < .001 (Figure 4). The distributions

of the SEIS score were also statistically significantly different between groups

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H(5)=33.309, p<0.001. The differences in both tests could be accounted for

by the low scoring of the computing students in comparison to all the nursing

student groups.

Figure 4. Median emotional intelligence scores by programme of study

In summary, emotional intelligence was found to significantly increase with

age. Previous caring experience was not associated with any difference in EI

scores. Previous mindfulness training was not associated with trait EI but was

associated with higher ability EI. Females scored significantly higher than

males on both measures of EI, and nursing students showed significantly

higher EI scores than computing students on both measures.

DISCUSSION

It is unknown if emotional intelligence is associated with success in this

cohort. This will be established over the course of the ongoing study by

analysing co-variables such as retention, clinical and academic achievement.

Nevertheless, the findings presented here show that previous caring

experience is not associated with increased emotional intelligence in this

sample. Mean scores between the groups in both measures were virtually

identical.

Caution needs to be exercised here as the previous caring experience

reported included a large range of activity including caring for relatives at

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home. However, over 81% reported their experience included hospital and/or

nursing home activity. This type of activity would reasonably be considered as

the type of experience the UK government and NMC is suggesting should be

encouraged in order to mitigate some of the criticisms in the Francis report.

Current pre-nursing experience pilots designed to facilitate this type of

experience have been described as ‘bold’ (p2) by the authors of the first

report into these pilots (Health Education England, 2014), and there is intuitive

plausibility for some form of pre-selection process grounded in ‘real world’

nursing experience. However, a more critical assessment of these pilots

would describe them as expensive, politically motivated and lacking in

evidence.

By contrast selecting students on the basis of evidence-based criteria would

provide a more economically sustainable and long-term solution to enhancing

recruitment. Again we stress that it remains unknown in this sample whether

EI will show any subsequent association with future performance.

Nevertheless baseline results show previous nursing experience is not

associated with any difference in relation to emotional intelligence. If EI is

subsequently shown to be associated with better performance, and many

studies suggest that it is (Bar-On, 2006; Schutte et al., 2001; Van Rooy and

Viswesvaran, 2004), then prior nursing experience would be irrelevant in this

sample.

Instead, the sample of nurses scored higher than average across the board.

Mean scores on TEIQ-SF in the Cooper and Petrides (2010) paper were all

within 0.2 points of 5 for males and females suggesting that 5 is probably a

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useful midpoint benchmark. On this assumption all the nurses in our study

were above average and the computing students below (table 2). On the SEIS

Schutte, Malouff, & Bhullar (2009) conducted a meta review of studies utilizing

the scale and although they did not average all the scores because of the

variation in sample types that means grouped around 3.6. This implies the

nurses in our sample again scored above this average and the computing

students below (table 2). It is therefore reasonable to explore the factors that

may impact upon emotional intelligence in order to better facilitate them if

possible. In this study we found significant differences in relation to

mindfulness, age and gender. These are discussed in turn.

Mindfulness training was associated with higher EI as measures by SEIS but

not TEIQ-SF. In the introduction the distinction between the measures was

explained as being grounded in theoretical distinctions between viewing EI as

ability or a trait. The SEIS is considered an ability measure, associated with

cognition as opposed to personality. This makes sense in interpreting this

finding, as mindfulness is a cognitive mechanism designed to help people

focus on the present (Khoury et al., 2013). Although causality is not possible

to establish it is rational to suggest that mindfulness training would be

expected to positively impact upon an ability measure of EI. From a practical

perspective, in line with the findings from this study, it also raises the

possibility that mindfulness training may be a better way of enhancing

emotional and cognitive abilities than pre-nursing programmes.

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In relation to age and gender, this study found that being female and

increasing age were both associated with significant increase in emotional

intelligence. These are common findings in the literature (Kafetsios 2004;

Mayer, Roberts, and Barsade 2008), but their practical benefit to nursing

recruitment is less obvious. For example on face value it would seem that

older women would therefore possess a superior emotional skillset and

should be prioritised for recruitment. However, this is unknown, and a key

reason for conducting the longitudinal elements of the current study is to

explore the more nuanced elements of these findings.

For example a related element of our current work considered the

psychometric properties of the EI measures. As discussed the SEIS and TEIQ

are ostensibly measuring different global constructs, one cognitive, the other

personality (Petrides 2011). Each measure claims to also consist of discrete

factors, such as appraising, utilizing and discriminating emotions in SEIS (Ng

et al., 2009; Qualter et al., 2010) and self-control, emotionality, well-being and

sociability in the full version of TEIQ (Petrides, 2009), though not necessarily

the TEIQ-SF (Petrides, 2006). However, gender differences are not explained

by these distinctions.

In order to investigate the psychometric properties of the TEIQ-SF we

conducted a concurrent Rasch and confirmatory factory analysis (CFA)

(Snowden et al, in review). The CFA showed a different four factor structure

to the a priori suggestion proposed by Petrides (2006). This is quite common

in the factor analytic literature. Factor interpretations are rarely replicated in

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different samples. However by using Rasch analysis (Bond and Fox, 2007) at

the same time we also discovered a secondary factor. Rasch analysis tests

the assumption that the data is consistent with a unidimensional model

(Engelhard, 2012). There should not be a secondary factor if the measure is

consistent with Petrides’ ‘global trait’ assumption. By finding a secondary

factor the Rasch analysis showed that five of the TEIQ-SF items were not

measuring the same construct as the rest of the items.

The key finding from comparing both these analyses was that the secondary

factor in the Rasch analysis contained exactly the same items as the second

factor in the CFA. Given these two measurement techniques are grounded in

entirely different philosophies any convergence in outcome is worth close

investigation. The secondary factor consisted of the following five TEIQ-SF

items:

5. I generally don’t find life enjoyable.

12. On the whole I have a gloomy perspective on most things.

13. Those close to me often complain I don’t treat them right.

16. I often find it difficult to show my affection to those close to me.

28. I find it difficult to bond well even with those close to me.

These items are all associated with negative (autistic) aspects of sociability

and mood, and would not intuitively be expected to be associated with

positive relationships in nursing. This is being investigated as the performance

data on this cohort emerges. Interestingly, removal of these five items from

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TEIQ-SF totals resulted in elimination of the mean difference between males

and females. This implies that the gender difference associated with the

TEIQ-SF may be a function of different gender specific responses to just

these five items. In our dataset females scored substantially more positively

on these five items than males. This finding will be monitored closely as the

study progresses. Further understanding of the relationship of these five items

to student progression and completion of nursing and midwifery education will

enhance knowledge about the role of this factor should the TEIQ-SF be used

for selection purposes.

Limitations

A number of limitations to the present study must be noted. First, the study is

reliant on self-report measures. These have long been known to be subject to

response bias (McGrath et al., 2010). Also, there were only 68 in the control

group and as such it is difficult to claim the comparative findings utilizing this

sample would be replicable. A related limitation was the non-normal

distribution of the responses to both EI measures. This assumptions of

normality were based on z-tests and Shapiro-Wilk test (Laerd, 2014). Other

authors have been more lenient, Petrides being of particular note here. For

example he has cited Curran, West, and Finch’s (1996) criteria of skewness

and kurtosis absolute values of 0 to 2, and 0 to 7 respectively as

demonstrating sufficient univariate normality (Cooper and Petrides 2010).

Because of our more stringent criteria that incorporated standard error

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measurement we could not use parametric tests. However, despite these

limitations where the results are significant they are worthy of further

exploration.

The second phase of data collection, repeating the TEIQ-SF and SEIS at the

beginning of second year and the first comparison of performance data began

September 2014.

CONCLUSION

Emotional intelligence is a well-developed construct that is logically consistent

with the social and relational aspects of nursing. It makes sense that if

emotional intelligence can be identified and nurtured then nursing would

benefit, particularly in relation to current anxieties around care and

compassion. However, this is not known. This paper has presented data from

the first phase of a longitudinal study designed to explore the relationship

between emotional intelligence and nursing performance in more detail.

Consistent with other studies it found that emotional intelligence increased

with age, and that females scored higher on EI measures than males. Nurses

scored higher on EI than non-nursing students. Mindfulness training was

associated with ability but not trait EI.

Most notably, previous nursing experience was not associated with any

difference in EI scores. Mean scores on both EI measures were virtually

identical between those with previous nursing experience and those without.

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Whilst it remains to be seen if these findings explain any subsequent variance

in performance, it suggests that there may be more important prerequisites to

successful nursing recruitment than prior nursing experience.

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Bar-On, R., 2006. The Bar-On model of emotional-social intelligence (ESI).

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Figure 1. Sample age and gender

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

17-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41+

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Figure 2. TEIQ total distribution

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Figure 3. Emotional Intelligence and Age group

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Figure 4. Median emotional intelligence scores by programme of study

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Programme

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid

adult 586 62.5 62.5 62.5

mental health 124 13.2 13.2 75.8

learning disability 29 3.1 3.1 78.9

children's 47 5.0 5.0 83.9

midwifery 83 8.8 8.9 92.7

computing 68 7.2 7.3 100.0

Total 937 99.9 100.0 Missing System 1 .1 Total 938 100.0

Table 1. Sample by programme

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Report

Programme TEIQ-SF Total SEIS Total

adult Mean 5.32 3.87

Std. Deviation .62 .42

mental health Mean 5.37 3.87

Std. Deviation .58 .46

learning disability Mean 5.14 3.79

Std. Deviation .61 .35

children's Mean 5.14 3.79

Std. Deviation .53 .32

midwifery Mean 5.37 3.94

Std. Deviation .67 .42

computing Mean 4.74 3.57

Std. Deviation .75 .47

Total Mean 5.27 3.85

Std. Deviation .65 .43

Table 2. mean emotional intelligence scores by programme of study

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Highlights

Emotional Intelligence (EI) may be useful to measure in recruitment of nurses

Previous caring experience and mindfulness training may also be useful in this regard

Data on EI, previous caring and mindfulness were obtained from 938 year one students

Mindfulness was associated with higher EI. Previous caring experience was not.

Older female nurses scored highest on EI. Implications are discussed.